Switch-operating mechanism



Oct. 9, 1928.

. C. AAI-BORG swITcg OPERATING MEGHANISM Filed March 15; 1922 8 Shets-Sheet 1 [Nvt-:N o www2/24g, BY

ATTRNEY' WITNESSES:

Oct. 9, 1928.

W L/w n i mi wm ww W f ATTORNEY Oct. 9, 1928.

C. AALBORG SWITCH OPERATING MECHANISM 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 15. 1922 ATTORNEY Oct. 9, 1928.

c. `.luALBoRG SWITCH OPERATING MECHANI SM Filed March l5. 1922 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEY lOct. 9, 1928.

c. AALBoRG SWITCH OPERATING MECHANISM Filed March 15. 1922 8 She'etS-Sheet 5 Octu 9, 1928.

8 Sheets-Sheet 6 C AALBORG SWITCH OPERATING MECHANISM Filed March 15. 1922 WITNESSES:

ATTORNEY Oct 9, 1928.

C. AALBORG SWITCH OPERATING MECHANISM 8 Sheets-Sheet '7 Filed March 15. 1922 INVENTOR ifr///W d/a/y ATTORNEY ys Esi Oct 9, 1928. 1,686,721

c. AALBORG- SWITCH OPERATING MECHANISH Filed March 15. 1922 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 w|T EssEs; INVENToR 6% M5/7m f4/borg.

d BY' 2 ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 9, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHRISTIAN AALBORG, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO WESTING- HOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYL- VAN IA.

SWITCH-OPERATING MECHAN ISM.

Application led March 15, 1922. Serial No. 543,907.

My invention relates to switch-operating mechanisms and particularly to those of the type operated by a motor, the circuit of which is opened and closed to cause actuations of the switch.

My invention has for its object the provision of means whereby the movements of a motor-operated switch are automatically controlled by conditions in the circuit of the breaker which the motor-operated mechanism actuates and to simplify and improve generally motor-operated structures of this character.

As shown in the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a View, partially in side elevation and partiall in section, of an operating vmechanism that embodies my invention,

Fig. 2 is a plan View thereof,

Figs. 3 and 4 are detail views of certain of the link and lever mechanism, showing the parts occupied thereby at different stages of their movement,

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a portion of the tripping mechanism,

Fig. 6 is a view' taken on the line VI-VI of Fig. 2,

Fig. 7 is a view, in side elevation, of the stop switch which I employ,

Fig. 8 is a view of the stop switch, with the top portion removed,

Figs. 9 and 10 are plan and side elevation- .al views, respectively, of one of the lever links which I employ in movingv the lowvoltage release mechanism to retracted position Figs. 11 and 12 are plan and side eleva-- tional views, respectively, of another lever link which I employ inmoving the lowvoltage release mechanism to retracted position Fig. 13 is an elevational view of the i bracket which supports a portion of the tripping mechanism,

Figs. 14 and 15 are plan and side elevational views, respectively, of the tripping bar Figs. 16 and 17 are end elevational and side views, respectively, of the crank which irg member for the toggle links which I ein P Oy Figs. 19 and 20 are plan and side elevational views, respectively, of the main lever to which the lifting rod of a circuit breaker may be connected.

Fig. 21 is a detail view showing one of the toggle links,

Fig. 22 is a detail view of another of the toggle links,

Fig. 23 is a detail View of the link that is carried by the crank shown in Fig. 17,

Fig. 24 illustrates the latch member which I employ,

Figs. 25 and 26 are detail views of two co-operating lifting members,

Fig.v 27 is a view, partially in side elevatioi and partially in section, of a dash-pot, an

Fig. 28 is a diagrammatic illustration showing the manner in which certain portions of the apparatus are associated with an electrical circuit.

Referring now to Fig. 1, my device comprises a magnetically-actuated switch 30, which is operated through a means herein afterto be described in detail and which may be of any conventional form. The switch 30 controls the circuit through a motor 31 that carries a. pinion 32 upon its armature shaft, the pinion 32 serving to drive a gear wheel 33 that is provided with a pinion 34 which, in turn, drives a gear wheel 35.

The gear wheel 35 is keyed to a shaft 36 that is provided with a crank arm 37. The crank arm 37 is provided with a pin 38 which serves as a pivotal support for a link 39 to the upper end of which an oscillatable bar 40 is pivotally connected. The other end of the bar 40 is pivotally supported, at 42, from one of the side walls of a casing 45 Within which theapparatus is mounted.

It will be observed that, as the gear wheel 35 is driven from the motor 31, the crank 37 will be rotated, Acarrying with it the lower end of the link 39 andcausing the oscillation A ing member of a circuit breaker 124 (Fig. 28) is operated. Only one of the rods 48 is commonly employed, provision being made for two so thatthe mechanism can be more readily connected to circuit breakers that occupy different positions relatively to the operating mechanism.

The, lever 46 is pivotally connected to a toggle-link member 49 which, in turn, is pivswitch-operating lever 46 is in its raised, or

closed, position. The links 49 and 50 are maintained against collapse by a locking lever 52 of bell-crank shape, the members 49, and 52 being shown in detail in Figs. 18, 21 and 22. The member 52 is pivotally supported, at 55, upon the link 50`and is lprovided with a shouldered portion 56 that engages a shouldered portion 57 on the link 49, to prevent upsetting or collapse of the toggle members 49 and 50.

At its lower end, the locking member 52 is provided with a pin 58 which supports one end of a tripping bar 59. The tripping bar 59 (Figs. 1, 3 and 4) is pivotally supported at its other end upon a pin 60 that is supported by a tripping bar 61 at 60. (See Figs. 1, 14 and 15.)

The tripping bar 61 is pivotally supported at 62, upon a bracket 65. It will be observed that, upon movement of the tripping bar 61 about its pivot 62, in a counterclockwise direction, the link 59 will be drawn to the position illustrated in Fig. 4, thus dis-engaging the locking shoulders 56 and 57 of the members 52 and 49, respectively, and permitting the -toggle 49-50 to collapse under the weight imposed thereupon through the operating lever 46. Y

The bracket 65 is provided with an upwardly extending portion-66 that has holes through which screws 67 extend for securing such bracket to a side wall of the case 45.

The tripping bar 61 is provided with hori zontally disposed arms 68, 69 and 70 that project over the upper ends of movablecore members 71, 72 and 73, respectively, which are actuated by a low-voltage tripping coil 75 and overload coils 76, and 77, respectively, to rock the tripping bar 61 about its pivot 62 and move the tripping link 59, thereby unlocking the toggle 49-50, as above described.

A latch member is pivotally supported by the casing 45 and is normally biased in a clockwise direction by a tension spring 81.

vThe latch member 80 is normally in position to be engaged by a boss 82 formed on the operating lever 46, upon the upsetting of the toggle 49-50. The resultant downward movement of the operating lever causes a sharp blow upon the latch 8O and its disengagement from a pin 85 that is carried by the lifting bar 50, thus permitting the lifting bar 51 to falland to againbring the toggle links 49 and 50 into normal alinement, providing the oscillating bar 40 has been carried to its lower position, in the manner hereinafter described and as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

The positions occupied by the operating bar 46, the toggle links 49 and 50, the latch 8O and the lifting bar 51, immediately following the actuation of the tripping bar 61, is illustrated in Fig. 4, while the position to which the parts move as a result of the impact by the boss 82 upon the latch 8O is illustrated in Fig. 3. After the disengagement of the pin 85 and its bar 51 by the latch 80, the spring 81, Fig. 1, serves to return the latch 80 to its normal position, upon upward movement of the lever 46, and permits the pin 85 to pass around the lower 'camsurface thereof,`into latching engagement therewith when the other parts are being restored to their closed positions.

As is shown in Fig. 2, a. dash pot 83, the details of which are shown in Fig. 27, has its piston 83a connected to a crank 84 that is carried by the shaft 47, in order to dampen the movements of the operating lever 46.

The tripping bar 61 is provided with a lug 86 to which one end of a tension spring 87 (Figs. 1, 5 and 15) is secured, the other end of the tension spring being secured, at/88, to the', bracket 65; The tension exerted by the spring 87 biases the tripping bar 61 about its ivot 62 in aA clockwise direction, thus yieldingly maintaining the locking member 52 of the toggle in operative position and causing it to snap into engagement with the locking surface 57 of the link 49 when the parts have been brought to thepositions illustrated in Fig. 3.

In Figs. 1 and 2 is shown a crank 91, operated by a handle 91a, for tripping the toggle, manually, through the tripping lever 61.

The movable core member 71 of the lowvoltage coil 75 is normally biased upwardly by a bell crank 90 and a tension spring 92, the core member 71 being maintained in its retracted position against the tension of the spring 92 until the current of the cirthrough a decrease in voltage, the tripping bar 61 will be actuated to upset the toggle 49-50 as above described. In order to return the core member 71 against the tension of the spring and in order that it may be brou ht into position for effective control by te coil 75, I provide' a latch lever 93 that is pivoted at 94 to the bracket 65. The outer end of the lever 93 is shaped to engage a notch 96 in a lever 97 that is pivoted at 98 to the bracket 65.

The outer end of the lever 97 lies between the lower side of the arm 68 of the tripping lever 61 and the upper end of the movable core member 71. Through pressure exerted upon the lever 97 by the latch lever 93, in a manner to be now described, the movable core member 71 is forced to its retracted position against the tension of the spring 92.

At its inner end, the latch lever 93 is provided with a pin 99 that is perforated, as shown more clearly in Fig. 5, for the passage therethrough of a rod 100 which carries are being driven, the oscillatable bar 40 is a fixed collar 101 and a yieldingly-supported collar 102 (Figs. 3 and 4).

The upper end of the rod 100 is carried between the arms 104 of a boss 105 on the main lever 46 (Fig. 19). Upon rotative movement of the main lever 46, the bar 100 moves vertically and slides through the opening in the pin 99 of the latch lever 93 until, on its upward movement, the collar .102 engages therewith (Fig. 4) thus moving the lever 93 in a clockwise direction and forcing the lever 97 and the movable core member 71 down against the tension of the spring 92. This retrieving or positioning of the parts is caused by the movement of the lever 46 in a counter-clockwise direction to its open' position.

Upon the resetting of the toggle mechanism and the movement of the operating lever 46 in a clockwise direction, the collar 101 is carried downwardly against the upper side of the latching lever 93 (see Fig. 1), causing the disengagement thereof from the lever 97 and leaving such lever free to be moved upwardly against the arm 68 of the tripping lever 61, by the movable core member 71.

While the gear wheel 35 and its crank 37 moved up and down, in the manner heretofore described, into and out of the positions illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4. Upon return of the bar 40 to its lower position, a Gaming lug 106, that is secured to crank arm 37 is carried across a roller 107 (Figs. 1, 7 and 8) of a stop switch 108. This biases a lever 110 against'the tension ofa spring 111 and moves a bridging member 112' thatis carried by the inner lever of the member 110 out of engagement with a pair of stationary contact members 114 for the purpose of breaking the circuit through the driving motor 31, as will be hereinafter described,

thereby causing a cessation of movement by the gear wheel 35.

The crank 37l and the oscillating bar 40 remain in their retracted positions until the collapse of the toggle mechanism, as shown in Fig. 4, and the tripping of the latch member 8O permits the toggle members 49-50 and the parts carried thereby to return to the position shown in Fig. 3.

It will be seen that the movement of the lever 46 in a counter-clockwise -direction is limited by reason of its engagement with the latch 8O and that there is, therefore, suf` icient room for the lifting bar 51 and links 49 and 50 to fall into the substantially alined positions illustrated in Fig. 3 and that, as heretofore explained the tripping link 59 being normally under tension, the locking lever 52 snaps into engagement with the lower end of the link 49.

The parts are then in a position for again moving the switch to closed position by closing the circuit through the motor 31 and causing the rotation of the crank 37 by the gear wheel 35. This rotation continues until the parts are again moved to the 'positions occupied in Fig. 1, wherein they are latched by engagement of the member with the pin of the lifting bar 51. The movement of the gear wheel 35 continues until the circuit is again broken through the motor by reason of the opening of the stop switch 108.

The switch 30 is preferably of a magnet type, as will be hereinafter described, and is controlled by the stop switch 108, so that, when the stop switch 108 is opened, the magnet switch 30 is de-energized and opened by a spring 116, (Fig. 28)4 ina manner to be hereinafter described. This arrangement permits the camming member 106 to move completely across the roller 107, by reason of the momentum of the rotatable parts, to eect only a momentary opening of the stop switch 108.

It will be observed, however, that, should the stop switch fail to function properly and the rotation of the motor and the driven thereby continue, the oscillatable bar 40 would act merely as an idler and would not disturb the set position of the toggle 49-50 and the operating lever 46, by reason of the engagement between the latch 80 and the pin 85.

It will be further seen that, so long as any one of the movable core members 71, 72

and 73 is biased upwardly by reason of an overload or low voltage, the bell-'crank locking member 52 will be biased, counterclockwise, to its inoperative position and, therefore, if the motor 31 should be operated during low-voltage or overload conditions, the

llO

switch could not be locked in closed position because, upon each upward movement thereof, the toggle would collapse through failure of the locking surface 56 to engage the locking surface 57. 'At its upper end, the operating lever 46 1s connected, by a bar 119, to an auxiliary switch 120, which may be of any usual form, for closing the circuit through a closlng co1l 121 of the magnet switch 30, at each movement of the operating lever 46 'to the pos1- tion wherein itcloses the main switch 124 with which it is connected through the liftino' rod 48.

"-lhe relation of various portions of the apparatus, just described, to each other 1s 11 lustrated diagrammatically in Flg. 28, wherein the lifting rod 48 controls the movement of a switch 124 that, in turn, controls a main circuit 125. In this figure, the

overload coil 76 is illustrated, theline 125 illustrating a single-phase circuit. The overload vcoil 77 could also be employed in a polyphase circuit, in the manner common to devices of this kind.

The circuit through the motor 31 is con-V Y trolled by the magnet switch 30 that'is pro-l vided with brid ing members 126 which are normally biased to open position by the sprin 116,and is closed to complete the circuit t rough ,the motor, by the closlng coll 121. The circuit through the closing coil 121 is controlled by the auxiliary switch 120 and by the stop swltch 108.i When the circuit breaker 124 is opened by reason of the counter-clockwise movement ofthe operating bar 46, the auxiliary switch 120 is thereby closed, thus connecting` the coil 121- to the line in position to be energized for closure of the switch 126y upon the occurrence of suilicient voltage on the line 125. y

' Should the circuit breaker 124 beclosed by movement of the operating lever 46, the

- switch 120 is opened and as the circuit `through the holding coill 121 is normally complete through the stop switch 108, the switch 126 `is maintained in closed position and the motor 31 caused to operate until the gear wheel- 35 has moved through a complete cycle and temporarily opened the switch 108,

thus completely breaking the circuit through y i i -the holding coil 121 and allowing the switch 126 to be opened through the action of the spring 116.

If the circuit breaker 124 should now be `opened through the 4actuation of the core member 7 1, byl reason of low voltage, the switch 120 would be closed -bythe`colla'psing` of the toggles 49v and 50 and would remain closed, lready for the necessary increase in voltage of the circuit 125, to a point sui- `cient to close the magnet switch 126 and start the motor to again close the circuit I breaker 124.

`Should the circuit\breaker124 be tripped by reason 'of an overload coil 76, the same sequence of operation, as just described,

would again take place, with the`exception,

; toggle 10c would not be maintained in closed position so long as oneof the overload coils was energized to maintain the locking lever 52 in an inoperative position, thus, no damage to the apparatus would occur.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that I provide a circuit-controlling system and apparatus that are fully automatic and in which danger of injury to any of theapparatus connected ,to the circuit, by reason of failure of any of the parts 0f the apparatus to function, is minimized.l

Various changes in detail and general arrangement may be made without departing relation,'means for latchin thelifting barv in raised osition, means or releasing the and means, for unlatching the liftin bar.

2. n combination, a .switch-operating i' lever, a lifting bar therefor, vtogg e mechanism connecting the bar and the lever, means lnism connecting the bar and the lever, means for releasably locking thetoggle mechanism in setposition to maintain the lifting bar and the^ perating lever yin spaced relation, y

an oscillatable member for raisi the lifting bar, means for latching the llfting'bar in raised position, means for releasing the toggle lock, and means for unlatching the lifting bar. f

' 4. In combination, a switch-operating lever, a .lifting Ybar therefor, toggle mechanism connecting the bar and thelever, means for releasably locking the'toggle mechanism` in set position to maintain the lifting bar and the operating lever in spaced relation,

position, means for releasing the .toggle lock, and means for unlatching thel lifting bar, the unlatching means being automatically actuated upon movement of the toggle mechmeans for latching the lifting bar in raised anism and operating lever to released position.

5. In combination, a switch-operating lever, a lifting bar therefor, toggle mechanism connecting the bar and the lever, means for releasably lockingy the toggle mechanism in set position to maintain the lifting bar andthe operating lever in spaced relation,

`means for latching the lifting bar in raised position, means for releasing thel toggle lock, and means for unlatching the lifting bar, the unlatching means being actuated by the switch-operating lever upon movement thereof to released position. y

6. In combination, a switch-operating lever, a lifting bar therefor, toggle mecha- 'nism connecting the bar and the lever, means mechanism after the lifting bar has been unlatched.

7. In combination, a. switch-operating lever, a lifting bar therefor, toggle mechanism connecting the bar and the lever, means for releasably locking the toggle mechanism in set position to maintain the lifting bar and the operating lever in spaced relation, an oscillatable member for raisingthe lifting bar, means for latching the lifting bar in raised position, means for releasing the toggle lock, means for unlatching the lifting bar, and means for returning the oscillatable member to retracted position after each actuation of the lifting bar, to permit of a downward movement of the lifting bar.

8. In combination, a switch-operating lever, an oscillatable actuating member therefor for moving the said Alever to advanced position, means for releasably maintaining the lever in advanced position during further oscillating movement of the actuating member, and means for causing movement of the operating lever to retracted position, irrespective of the position occupied by the actuating member.

9. The combination with a switch-operatingvlever, of means for actuating the same consisting of operating mechanism and toggle mechanism, the operating mechanism serving to move the toggle mechanism to advanced position and the toggle mechanism being provided with means for locking it in set position, and means whereby further movement of the operating mechanism after the toggle mechanism has been advanced will not disturb the said lookin means.

In testimony whereof, have hereunto subscribed my name, this 10th day of March CHRISTIAN AALBORG. 

